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From talking to friends, most stopped "loving"* Obama years ago shortly after there was no visible difference to Bush in foreign policy, human rights, wars, etc

From talking to friends, most stopped "loving"* Obama years ago shortly after there was no visible difference to Bush in foreign policy, human rights, wars, etc. * (the only President Germans loved is probably Kennedy, the most misunderstood Reagan)

mbubb 13y ago
Agreed. Anyone who has fallen out of love with Obama probably wasn't looking hard at him in the first place.
- akadien 13y ago
  An incredibly good point. He ran in 2008 mainly on the message of "we're not Republicans". However, his message then - and now - lacked substantive policy changes and improvements for governance. It was more of the same, which means growing bloat and overreach of the Federal government. People are now waking up during his second term, when he can do what he wants (e.g., pledge $7 billion to build a power plant in the African desert, spend $100 million to vacation in Africa, etc.)
9h1d9j809s 13y ago
Can you please elaborate on Reagan? How was he misunderstood?
- Uchikoma 13y ago
  I think a lot of people back then - like me as a teenager in the 80s - thought Reagan to be pure evil. Today the view on Reagan is more differentiated, his later view on nuclear war, the reunification, what he wanted to achieve vs. the cold war hardliner and Thatcherism capitalist, Bitburg, Pershing II, SDI.
  - wahsd 13y ago
    Once you look past all the Reagan PR the image is even worse than it ever was. The very nature of our the challenges we are facing today as a society can largely be traced back to his throwing open the doors to unrestrained abuse across society. The problem with excess is that it is exponentially unsustainable.
    - solistice 13y ago
      What kind of excess are you referring to? I'm viewing this in a somewhat simplistic way right now, but if I have an excess (in savings) of 10$ this week instead of 1$, then I don't quite see how my excess would be 10²$/1²$ = 100 times more unsustainable. I might be taking that too literally though.
- smackay 13y ago
  From priceless quotes like "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_begin_bombing_in_five_minutes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_begin_bombing_in_five_minut..., there was always the impression/worry that the Reagan administration was a bit trigger-happy and Western Europe (particularly West Germany) was about to be turned into an atomic wasteland at any time. Of course the actions by the administration were more constructive than the rhetoric but I certainly grew up in fear of imminent nuclear war.
  - gadders 13y ago
    Yes, that was all down to Reagan. Nothing to do with the evil communist dictatorship on your doorstep.
gadders 13y ago
If it wasn't for Reagan, Germany would still be two countries.

mbubb 13y ago

Agreed. Anyone who has fallen out of love with Obama probably wasn't looking hard at him in the first place.

akadien 13y ago
An incredibly good point. He ran in 2008 mainly on the message of "we're not Republicans". However, his message then - and now - lacked substantive policy changes and improvements for governance. It was more of the same, which means growing bloat and overreach of the Federal government. People are now waking up during his second term, when he can do what he wants (e.g., pledge $7 billion to build a power plant in the African desert, spend $100 million to vacation in Africa, etc.)

9h1d9j809s 13y ago

Can you please elaborate on Reagan? How was he misunderstood?

Uchikoma 13y ago
I think a lot of people back then - like me as a teenager in the 80s - thought Reagan to be pure evil. Today the view on Reagan is more differentiated, his later view on nuclear war, the reunification, what he wanted to achieve vs. the cold war hardliner and Thatcherism capitalist, Bitburg, Pershing II, SDI.
- wahsd 13y ago
  Once you look past all the Reagan PR the image is even worse than it ever was. The very nature of our the challenges we are facing today as a society can largely be traced back to his throwing open the doors to unrestrained abuse across society. The problem with excess is that it is exponentially unsustainable.
  - solistice 13y ago
    What kind of excess are you referring to? I'm viewing this in a somewhat simplistic way right now, but if I have an excess (in savings) of 10$ this week instead of 1$, then I don't quite see how my excess would be 10²$/1²$ = 100 times more unsustainable. I might be taking that too literally though.
smackay 13y ago
From priceless quotes like "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_begin_bombing_in_five_minutes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_begin_bombing_in_five_minut..., there was always the impression/worry that the Reagan administration was a bit trigger-happy and Western Europe (particularly West Germany) was about to be turned into an atomic wasteland at any time. Of course the actions by the administration were more constructive than the rhetoric but I certainly grew up in fear of imminent nuclear war.
- gadders 13y ago
  Yes, that was all down to Reagan. Nothing to do with the evil communist dictatorship on your doorstep.

gadders 13y ago

If it wasn't for Reagan, Germany would still be two countries.